


Ring Like Silver, Ring Like Gold

by FridaysChild



Series: Ring like Silver, Ring like Gold [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 01:12:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4767953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridaysChild/pseuds/FridaysChild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I lied about the timeline on this, because apparently when I don't write for months, then I binge write.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Ring Like Silver, Ring Like Gold

**Author's Note:**

> I lied about the timeline on this, because apparently when I don't write for months, then I binge write.

After Barry kisses him, Oliver’s left standing on the roof alone, with just an embarrassed mutter ringing in his ears, the quick press of leather gloves on his cheek and unusually heated lips against his. Oliver isn’t surprised very often, but right now he spends five minutes staring out across the city in shock, even though the yellow  lightning that follows Barry had disappeared over the horizon in seconds.

He finds his way back to Verdant in a daze. Felicity gives him a sharp glance but waits until they’re alone to bring up the issue. “What happened with Barry?”

He hasn’t quite forgiven Felicity for bringing him back here, and that she keeps the darkness at bay is no longer been enough. He’s not mad about the company being hers – Felicity will make a far better CEO than he ever had – but he wishes it hadn’t brought him back to the shadows, because for a few months, he’d been happy. He’s not sure he’d ever been happy before, not even before the island, and definitely not after. Before the island is remembered only hazily, like it was someone else’s life, but he knows he was always looking for something. And then the darkness of the island and ARGUS and what Starling had become swallowed him and it’s never quite let him go.

They still love each other, though; Oliver knows they always will. She has always had his best interests at heart, as he has hers. And she’s good at pushing him towards what he needs, even when he’s stubborn and afraid. Secretly, he sometimes tells her things because he knows she’ll tell him to do what he really wants to do anyway.

“Barry- kissed me.” It sounds ridiculous saying it out loud. Oliver’s not entirely convinced it’d happened. It had been so fast. He hopes Barry’s not like that in bed – and for some reason the thought makes him feel flushed, though it’s not like he’s anything near a virgin.

Felicity’s eyes are almost comically wide, but she recovers herself quickly. “That’s- great?” she says, tone fishing. “I mean, if you like – I don’t know if you’re interested in-“

Oliver has to smile slightly. “Honestly I never thought much about it. Outside of teenage experimentation anyway.” He shrugs a little.

“Okay, we are definitely coming back to that,” Felicity says. It really is always the quiet ones, Oliver thinks. He is not looking forward to her trying to get to describe past sexual encounters in detail. “But what about Barry?”

Oliver had never really thought about it, in the same way he’d never thought of loving an angel. Oliver is formerly-rich, handsome, and is used to being wanted, but Barry is good. Despite the crap he’d given Barry about being bad at his job, to Oliver, Barry’s always been far above him in all the ways that matter. Oliver had only been rough on him because the thought of his light being extinguished had been unbearable.

Okay, so maybe he has feelings for Barry. Of some kind.

“He’s too good for me.”

Felicity makes a “hmm,” noise and taps her nails on the back of her tablet absently. “You think everyone is too good for you,” she points out. “And you’d probably think Mother Theresa isn’t good enough for Barry, so…”

True. “Better than me,” he mutters anyway.  “And he deserves the whole shebang, a pretty girl and a quiet wedding and adorable twins.”

Felicity snorts, and she has the face on she gets when she thinks Oliver’s being particularly exasperating. “What Barry deserves is what Barry wants, and I don’t think Barry’s wanted the ordinary since he was a child. Maybe ever. What Barry needs isn’t someone like him, anyway. You think you’re going to drag him down, but he needs shoulders to stand on, to lift him up. He needs you to be his foundation. To protect him from those he’ll only see the good in.”

She takes a breath. “You and I, we aren’t innocent. Despite what he’s been through, Barry always sees the best parts of people. He needs someone like you to protect him. To be loved by him.”

They’ve had this argument over and over – about his feelings for her, mostly. Oliver shakes his head. “I don’t want to be the one who will ruin that for him, Felicity.”  

“You won’t. Because he’ll love you.” It makes too much sense. Oliver frowns at her.

“Shut up, Oliver,” she adds, before he can get any protests out. “For once in your life, do something that makes you happy.”

He wants to protest that he’d tried, but it would be petty. Coming back had brought him back into everything, but they hadn’t really known that would happen, either of them. Otherwise they might have decided to stay away. Oliver has learned to leave the past whenever he can, and this is one of those times he needs to. He sets his pain over Felicity aside and borrows her computers to book a train ticket to Central City. He’s still not sure exactly what he’s going to do when he gets there, but he wants to find out.  

  


Barry dashes into Star Labs when he finally gets a breather from various emergencies, making a beeline for Cisco’s food stash, but is brought up short when he sees Oliver standing next to the consoles Cisco and Caitlin run during his missions, smiling what Barry is pretty sure is his fake public smile at them. Barry kind of wants to yell, “Why didn’t you warn me?” at Cisco, except Cisco wouldn’t have known he needed to warn Barry. “Oliver,” he acknowledges, voice gone funny.

“Are you getting sick?” Caitlin asks, perking up. Barry can shake off a cold in a couple of hours, which gets her excited.

“No, just- nothing,” Barry says, not very convincingly. Oliver shoots him an amused glance. “Will you excuse me and Oliver for a moment?” His voice still sounds too high.

“Outside,” he mutters to Oliver, because he doesn’t want to chance Cisco and Caitlin spying on this, whether out of concern or curiosity. Oliver follows agreeably, which makes Barry suspicious. “Are you going to shoot me?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking about netting you,” Oliver says. “You have an annoying tendency to run away.” He sounds a tad reproachful.

“Habit,” Barry manages. “So, uh, what brings you to Central City?” He kicks himself as the words come out, because it’s one of the stupidest things he’s ever uttered. And he’s uttered a lot of stupid things without thinking. Somehow, even with time slowed for him, he still manages to open his mouth without thinking.

Oliver snorts. “You are so lucky that you’re terribly endearing,” he says.

Barry vibrates, pleased. “Wait, does that mean-” he stops, not wanting to jinx himself by finishing the thought.

“I’ll go out with you? Don’t make me regret it,” Oliver says, but he’s giving Barry a fond look. He also looks a little bemused, like he’s not quite sure how they got here, which is fair since Barry’s not sure either. “I’m not completely sure how I feel about you, but I think I’d like to find out.” He has a more genuine smile now, and Barry feels his heart stutter, because he’s not sure he’s ever seen it before.

“Really?” Barry vibrates a little more. “I can come to Star City - well, anytime. Friday?”

“I was thinking more like tonight,” Oliver says. “I booked a hotel room-” and then he has the grace to look a little embarrassed. “Just so I don’t have to go back,” he adds a little hastily. Barry’s a little relieved. That would be moving fast even by his standards.

“Right, sure, tonight,” Barry agrees. “I’m sure Firestorm can handle anything minor that comes up, and if it’s not minor, I’m dragging you along.” He’s grinning now, probably a little stupidly. Oliver tends to have that effect on him. The man is just so damn cool, and yet he wants to go out with Barry. “We can go to-” Barry tries to think of somewhere appropriate to take a billionaire who’s already done everything, hoping he can think of something suitably impressive. 

“It’s already planned,” Oliver interrupts, stopping him. “I’ll pick you up at six. And stop worrying - I lived on an island for five years. I’m not that spoiled.” Oh, well, when Oliver put it that way, even Jitters is probably perfectly nice. Although scratch that, since he’s not completely certain Iris wouldn’t let her reporter side take over.

 

When the doorbell rings- exactly at six, figures Oliver would be prompt - Barry isn’t quite ready, but he dashes downstairs and outside, catching Joe’s “Barry, what-” as he zips past. He gets the door shut behind him and escorts Oliver quickly back to his motorcycle (swoon) before Joe can bother to see what he’s up to, tying his tie as he goes. 

“What’s going on?” Oliver asks. 

“I don’t feel like having this talk with Joe, followed by the weapon comparing you two are sure to do,” Barry says, accepting Oliver’s hand and clambering up behind him, not as gracefully as he might have liked.

“Arms around me,” Oliver instructs, and oh yes, this is the first proper touching he’s gotten to do, and he slides his arms loosely around Oliver. “And hold on tight,” Oliver instructs, and Barry can feel his smirk, because it translates into every limb of Oliver’s body.

“Well, I have seen you drive,” Barry says, but tightens his arms cooperatively, and that’s nice too because now there are wonderful, wonderful muscles he gets to feel. Oliver’s pecs might be sculpted by Michelangelo. Oliver feels his arms tighten and takes off.

Barry squeaks a little, because riding on a motorcycle is a very different thrill from running beside it, and it’s one where he’s not in control. “So, new bike?” he yells to be heard over the wind.

“I have one stashed here,” Oliver explains, and that figures. He probably has a whole other Arrow cave. 

Barry does not get nearly enough of touching Oliver before they’re pulling up to a restaurant - a bit nicer than Barry had in mind. Oliver, helping him off the bike, catches his face. “Don’t worry, Felicity hired me as a consultant,” he reassures Barry. “I’m paid very well.” He leads Barry inside and they’re taken to a small room off the main dining area that’s set up for two.

They get settled; Barry tries to order conservatively, but Oliver glares at him and quadruples the order.  While waiting, Oliver asks, “So can I ask what brought this on?”

Barry pauses with his water halfway to his mouth. He doesn’t need to ask what Oliver means by “this.”

“Uh…” Does telling Oliver about what he saw create the chance of a paradox? Or is that only for time travel? Although now that he thinks about it, seeing what he did has probably already changed his universe… “When I was...gone,” he says, hesitating a little over the term. Cisco is the only one who’s heard the full story, so Oliver doesn’t really know where he’d been. “I was in a place outside of time, Cisco calls it the speed force. Anyway, I could see...other versions of us.” He decides not to mention that Oliver had been downright sweet in several of them. “That’s when I thought...that maybe you’d be interested, too.”

Oliver’s brows are up slightly but he seems to take it in stride, and Barry figures he’s seen enough now that this isn’t that strange. He’s quiet for a moment and then his lips twitch, and Barry knows enough to be nervous. “And what did you watch the other versions of us doing?” he teases.

Unfortunately, having super powers doesn’t seem to prevent Barry for blushing bright red. He quickly gulps a mouthful of water, hoping it will cool the heat engulfing his face.

“Wow, Barry,” Oliver tips his head. “I don’t think normal people turn that color. You should ask Dr. Snow if that could be a side effect of your powers.”

“You are a bad man,” Barry informs him sternly. “And I didn’t watch - it felt wrong. Sometimes I caught a glimpse at the wrong moment, though.”

Oliver doesn’t look sorry at all, but he does lay off as the food’s brought to their table. “So...which one was the best? That you saw?” There’s a hint of something wistful in his voice, and it makes Barry want to give him everything. He remembers that he’s allowed to touch and reaches over to cover Oliver’s hand with his.

“Honestly, I liked the differences. It showed what’s possible, and all the ways we could…” he hesitates a little, because he’s admitting something intimate, “...fit together. Most of what I saw, we’d been together for awhile.” He’s smiling a little, thinking of how comfortable most of the other versions of them had been together. “And I liked it because it leaves things wide open for us, too.”

Oliver turns his hand over, cupping Barry’s and running a thumb over the back of his hand. Barry feels warm again. “Room enough for me to fuck it up, you mean.”

“I don’t think you want to try to out stubborn me, Oliver. I spent fourteen years believing in the impossible, remember?”

Oliver smiles, the knee-melting genuine one again. “I’m never getting rid of you, am I?” he asks, trying for resigned but apparently unable to keep from smiling.

“Not even if you try.” Barry gestures to his plate. “You fed me, now I’m yours. I’m like a pet that way, only I eat a lot more.” He’d been unable to resist the plates of food and decided to take Oliver’s acceptance of his eating needs at face value. He’s just polishing off the third plate but pauses momentarily at the look of astonishment on Oliver’s face. Once he really thinks about what he said, he files away that bit of information - Oliver likes that Barry is his. He doesn’t call attention to it, though, just dives back into his food. “Anyway, I saw one where we were both about a hundred and terrorizing the staff in a nursing home. Well, mostly you.” He probably didn’t need to tell Oliver that it was his favorite because they’d both lived to a ripe old age. He’d seen a few where one of them hadn’t, and those had been rough. He wasn’t sure which was harder - the ones where he knew Oliver was gone, or the ones where he had to watch Oliver without him.

They’re both quiet for a moment and Barry decides to lighten the mood and get a little revenge for Oliver’s teasing earlier. “Oh, and there was one where we had a three way going with Felicity.” He genuinely catches Oliver by surprise, based on the subsequent sputtering.

“You’re making that up,” Oliver accuses.

Barry shrugs innocently. “You’ll never know.” Which is the fun of it - leaving Oliver guessing.

"Eventually I will find out," Oliver promises, and then they fall into a surprisingly easy conversation mostly centered around how they can work together to take advantage of each others' abilities. Dinner is over way too early for Barry's taste, but then Oliver takes him to get frozen yogurt down the street and they walk around the park. Barry keeps sneaking peeks at Oliver, smiling when he occasionally catches Oliver doing the same. Too soon Oliver has to take him home, though, because Oliver needs to catch a train the next morning. Barry does get to ride on the wonderful, wonderful bike, though, and his thoughts wander a bit, thinking about what would happen if he vibrated in the same way as the bike while riding it. Probably nothing, though he's taken by a flight of fancy where he can control the bike with the power of the speed force. 

Oliver cruises by the house and the lights are off, so Barry judges it’s safe to stop. Oliver pulls up outside and helps him back off the bike. Barry is expecting Oliver to walk to the door with him, but Oliver still has a few tricks up his sleeve to catch Barry off guard because before Barry can walk that way, his arm snakes around Barry’s waist and Oliver pulls him in with a smirk. “Now...do I get to participate this time?”

“Yes,” Barry squeaks, because he’s not going to argue with Oliver Queen and he’s definitely not going to argue with Oliver Queen about kissing.

“Good,” Oliver says, cupping Barry’s face in his free hand and drawing him in. Oliver’s hand feels huge on his cheek, his fingers calloused as he rubs them gently along Barry’s jawline, and Barry is already melting against him even before Oliver closes the deal, sealing his mouth over Barry’s. He takes his time, slowly deepening the kiss, and it doesn’t take too long before Barry, already weak-kneed, starts vibrating against him.

Oliver pulls back, momentarily surprised, and then smiles down at him, taking a step back, settling his hands on Barry’s shoulders, steadying him. “Is this normal?”

Barry nods. “In my fairly limited experience…” Though he’s not usually worked up this easily.

“Good night, Barry,” he says, climbing on his bike and leaving Barry completely unable to run. He stumbles inside as quietly as he can.

  


They’ve had three dates now, and Barry is fairly sure that in modern terms that means they’re allowed to have sex. The problem is, they keep getting interrupted. Mostly by emergencies, but there’s also the inconvenient fact that neither of them lives alone compounded by the fact that they’re trying to be discreet, because Oliver doesn’t want to subject Barry to the press, even though Barry points out that The Flash has to deal with them all the time. On top of that, Barry still doesn’t know how to deal with the fact that he’s dating Oliver, and Joe would probably strongly disapprove, so he’s been avoiding the whole subject.

At Oliver’s place, Barry’s starting to vibrate on Oliver’s lap, which draws a pleased groan from him. “I have never felt anything quite like that,” Oliver mutters into his neck, where he’s currently pressing kisses. “You are going to be the death of me.”

Barry hums encouragingly and shifts, pulling Oliver down on the couch on top of him, hand sneaking up his shirt. His very tight, sexy shirt.

“Oliver,” Barry hears, and he freezes on the couch.

“...Thea,” Oliver nods to her after a moment. “I thought you had business.”

Thea’s tapping her toe on the floor, looking like she’s not sure whether to be horrified at catching her brother making out or not. “The caterer didn’t show up for the meeting,” she says.

Barry’s torn between being mortified and being proud that he distracted Oliver enough that he didn’t notice Thea’s approach. The fact that he hasn’t  met Oliver’s sister yet and this is technically her couch is tipping him towards mortified, though.

Oliver straightens both of them up (Barry’s still paralyzed). “Thea, this is my friend Barry Allen,” he says. Thea’s regarding him with some amount of confusion, probably because he’s not Oliver’s usual type.

Barry has some vague recollection that Thea knows about Oliver being the Arrow. “Hi, I’m the Flash,” he says, with a wave he just knows is dorky. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Speedy,” Thea says after a moment, and it takes a moment for Barry to realize that she means she’s Speedy. He turns and glares at Oliver, because he hadn’t told Barry that.

Oliver shrugs, apparently unconcerned. “I didn’t tell her about you, either,” he says, and that’s entirely reasonable and Barry’s still going to feel sulky about it.

Thea sits down next to him, oblivious to his continuing discomfort (in more ways than one). Actually, on second thought, if she’s as evil as Oliver, she’s just teasing him now. “What’s it like?”

“Oh, well, kind of hard to describe…” he says vaguely.

He and Oliver don’t get to finish their date.  


At Barry’s, Joe comes home before he’s supposed to; another officer picked up his shift. Barry whisks Oliver out the back door and around the block before he can protest, buttons his shirt back up, and makes it back to his house in time to be greeted by Joe’s unimpressed look.

“We don’t need to have the talk again, do we?” Joe asks. “Because you haven’t snuck around like this since puberty.”

“What? No, what?” Barry says, suavely. He pastes a bright, hopefully innocent grin on his face.

“Barry, even if you weren’t the worst liar on the face of the planet, you have a really impressive hickey.”

It’s okay. Really, Barry knew it’d come down to this eventually. He has a plan to throw Joe of the scent for a little while. “I’m bi,” he says, “And no, we do not need to talk about that.”

Much to Barry’s consternation, that doesn’t seem to distract Joe at all. “You’re seeing someone I don’t approve of,” he says, and crap, Joe is a detective and he’s usually pretty good at detecting.

“Hang on a sec,” Barry says, and zips out the door. He skids to a stop in front of Oliver. “He’s on to me, what do I do?” he asks, only afterwards noticing the rather stormy expression on Oliver’s face. “Sorry about the carrying you thing,” he adds.

“That’s not the problem, Barry,” Oliver says, though he does look a little disgruntled at the reminder. “At what point are you going to tell him?” Oliver asks. “Because I am not sneaking around with you forever. It’s also starting to put a cramp in things. I mean, how are you expecting things to go? Just keep me a dirty little secret?” Oliver has a scary voice when he’s angry. “I know you don’t deal with much conflict on your team but sometimes it’s a fact of life and you just have to deal with it.”

There is a lot more conflict on Team Arrow than Team Flash. Barry blames Oliver. “Well, I don’t feel like dealing with anyone getting shot!” It seems like a reasonable expectation to Barry. He’s vaguely aware that he’s having a shouting match with Oliver in the middle of the street.

“I’m not going to shoot your dad!”

“I’m more worried about him shooting you, but regardless, I just- need time to ease him into it.” All right, that sounds a little feeble even to his ears and he quiets a bit saying it.

Oliver snorts in a way that clearly indicates he doesn’t think Joe could shoot him point blank. “How much time, Barry? Because I’m starting to feel like you’re ashamed of me.”

There’s a shadow in Oliver’s eyes now, and oh. Oliver isn’t worried about Barry being ashamed of him; Oliver is ashamed of himself. He probably still thinks he’s not good enough for Barry and Barry’s family or that he doesn’t deserve to be happy or some crap like that.

Joe’s coming around the corner, probably following the shouting. Barry could move the goalposts again, but right now he’s more interested in erasing every bit of self-doubt from Oliver’s soul. “Oliver Queen, you are one of the most maddening, challenging people I’ve ever met but I am not ashamed of you. I actually think I might love you.” And he grabs Oliver and yanks him into a kiss, right in front of Joe and the neighbor Barry’s just noticed has a camera phone out, probably recording the whole thing, dammit. So much for being careful about media attention. It was worth it though, because Oliver’s staring at him with something more like wonder and less like pain. Barry kisses him again, because what the hell.

He sort of forgot about Joe for a moment until he clears his throat. “No,” he says, when Barry looks. “This is not happening. You can date anyone but him.”

He presses another kiss to Oliver’s mouth, just to spite Joe. “Okay if we talk later?” he says, quietly enough that no one else should be able to pick it up. Oliver nods, so Barry releases him. “I’ll meet you later.”

Oliver heads off with Barry standing between him and Joe, who is still glaring. “We’re going to talk right now,” he says, dragging Joe back towards the house and away from prying eyes.

The two of them have a long talk about what Barry is or is not allowed to do as an adult and, by the way, a superhero. Barry’s not really sure he’s won, but he at least gets Joe to back off a little by reminding him that Oliver has had Barry’s back on multiple occasions.

Finally he escapes, probably breaking his own speed record to get to the hotel Oliver likes to stay in while he’s in town. He knocks and Oliver lets him in. “You’re ridiculous,” Oliver informs him, after Barry finishes kissing him silly. “It’s been less than a month.” He’s clearly trying for exasperated but his lips keep twitching, more like he wants to smile.

Barry shrugs. “I’ve known you for more than a year, even discounting the speed force time, and everything feels longer to me. Deal with it.” He kisses Oliver again. Oliver’s not going to say anything, and he doesn’t have to. Oliver has let Barry into his world and he knows what that means. “Have you forgiven me?” he asks instead, hands on the small of Oliver’s back.

“Like I couldn’t,” Oliver says. He’s moving in for another kiss when Barry’s cell rings with the Star Labs tone.

Barry sighs, answering. It’s an emergency, because this is his life now. “Sorry, duty calls.”

Oliver steals a last kiss. “Hurry back.”

  


Oliver watches the trail of lightning from the hotel towards Star Labs from his window, still catching occasional flashes of light when Barry goes to handle his emergency. Barry loves him, and it scares him but it also feels the light at the end of the tunnel.

The light isn’t yellow, he decides, watching; it’s gold, rare and beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> I am a horrible, horrible sap. Never expect anything else.


End file.
